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Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

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Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#181

Post by tootie »

ravenstine wrote: post #17
colechristensen wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My family never put anything on the, eh, 3 acres of grass I regularly had to mow as a kid. It wasn't perfect, nobody cared. There were dandelions, there was some clover. If you can bear to tolerate the fact that your lawn isn't going to look like a putting green, you can do literally nothing but cut it and perhaps water it if your climate requires and be done with it. If there are plants you don't want in your lawn,…

What's sad is dandelions are neither ugly nor bad for your lawn. They feed bees and the tap roots draw nutrients from deep in the soil, which also benefits the grass.

I always loved dandelions and I wondered why I had to mow the lawn when I preferred it to be long and shaggy.

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#182

Post by folkrav »

cptskippy wrote: post #161
pm215 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is simpler in the sense that there is not really any thought required. I have to mow my small lawn every three weeks or so, true, but I know how to do that, because it's the same thing everybody does and you grow up watching your parents mow the lawn. It requires no judgement skills, and no gardening skills -- just run the mower over all the grass, and you're done. I would actually potentially be interested in hav…

I guess maybe that's a regional thing. In the southeast US, lawn care is a year round battle against weeds and invasive species. Without weeding and chemicals, grass can easily be choked out in one growing season. Mowing the actual lawn is a very small part of the regiment. It's particularly difficult with the mild Winters we have had of late because it's almost as if spring goes from December to May now. Sods like B…

Might have to do with the grass type? One thing that shocked me when I went to Florida was how coarse (larger strands and way stiffer) the grass was compared to where I live (Canada). I eventually learned it's simply a different type to deal with climate differences. I'm admittedly not very knowledgeable with everything plant, but it wouldn't sound odd to me if I learned that it could also mean different care. Up here it's mostly weeding, adding soil where needed and reseeding every spring, mowing it every couple of weeks, and watering once in a while. Maybe 2-3 rounds of chemicals a year if you want that healthy deep green lawn look.

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#183

Post by alistairSH »

pm215 wrote: post #126
vanderZwan wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have to do a lot less maintenance, and when I do it's more varied and interesting. The irony is that people think a lawn is easier to maintain because it looks simpler

It is simpler in the sense that there is not really any thought required. I have to mow my small lawn every three weeks or so, true, but I know how to do that, because it's the same thing everybody does and you grow up watching your parents mow the lawn. It requires no judgement skills, and no gardening skills -- just run the mower over all the grass, and you're done. I would actually potentially be interested in hav…

Depending on where you live, you could start with introducing clover into your yard. It grows well in most of the US, tends to be more drought tolerant than many grasses, is easier on the soil (requires less soil treatment), and flowers nicely part of the season, which is great for bees and other pollinators. It will co-exist with grasses, so you don't need to do anything beyond tossing seed in the early spring and letting it germinate, just as you would do with grass seed.

Weekly maintenance is similar - just mow it (though let it grow long when it's flowering - cut off the flowers and you lose the pollinators).

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#184

Post by graeme »

My parents cut the lawn but otherwise do nothing to it. It abounds with many different insect species: ants, bees, grasshoppers, dragonflies, butterflies, moths

Many different flowers and grasses grow, along with strawberries, clover, etc.

This may depend on climate; they’re in eastern canada. And I’m sure there would be arrange things to create an even better bug environment. But the default lawn can be quite good for insects if you just let it grow. I always hated those sterile green lawns people made; the varied lawn we had was much prettier.

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#185

Post by alistairSH »

graeme wrote: post #184

My parents cut the lawn but otherwise do nothing to it. It abounds with many different insect species: ants, bees, grasshoppers, dragonflies, butterflies, moths Many different flowers and grasses grow, along with strawberries, clover, etc. This may depend on climate; they’re in eastern canada. And I’m sure there would be arrange things to create an even better bug environment. But the default lawn can be quite good f…

It's common in the US to treat lawns so that only a single, or small number of, grass species exists. This is a relatively new thing - through the 1960s or so, lawns were as you describe - as long as it was mostly green, it was just mowed - clovers and some other "weeds" were allowed to grow alongside grass. The advent of targeted herbicides and advertising campaigns has led us to growing monoculture lawns.

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#186

Post by jrumbut »

pm215 wrote: post #126
vanderZwan wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have to do a lot less maintenance, and when I do it's more varied and interesting. The irony is that people think a lawn is easier to maintain because it looks simpler

It is simpler in the sense that there is not really any thought required. I have to mow my small lawn every three weeks or so, true, but I know how to do that, because it's the same thing everybody does and you grow up watching your parents mow the lawn. It requires no judgement skills, and no gardening skills -- just run the mower over all the grass, and you're done. I would actually potentially be interested in hav…

People way overcomplicate this.

It's OK to kill plants so just get a small variety and see which ones take over. They sort themselves out or they don't and you try again next year.

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#187

Post by dbingham »

lr4444lr wrote: post #163
_qwfv wrote: post #25

Getting rid of our lawn and growing other stuff has been amazingly fulfilling. I have fresh produce most of the year, I've got honeybees and bumblebees and mason bees coming around. I have to do a lot less maintenance, and when I do it's more varied and interesting. Everything from fruit trees to berries, flowers to vegetables, herbs to herbal teas like chamomile. Strongly recommend looking at what will grow in your…

I have both a lawn, and a perimeter where I grow flowers, edibles, and trees. I am happy that you find your conversion satisfying, but there is no conceivable way I am going to believe the careful weeding, deadheading, variable watering, pruning, shading, trellising, etc. is less maintenance than simply running the mower and edger once a week at MOST, and relying on an automated sprinkler system. (Maybe a 2x/year wee…

If you're going for a perfectly maintained look to wild plantings, then yeah, that's a a lot of work.

We've replaced our lawn with wild savanna, and it's zero work. We just let it go. It looks totally wild, and I'm happy with that. (Getting it in place - removing the invasives, improving the soil, planting trees, and spreading native wildflower and grass seeds was a lot of work - but since its established its very little work. Just occasionally walking through it and pulling out the invasives that are trying to move back in.)

Part of the change that needs to happen is a change in our aesthetics.

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#188

Post by ausjke »

_qwfv wrote: post #25

Getting rid of our lawn and growing other stuff has been amazingly fulfilling. I have fresh produce most of the year, I've got honeybees and bumblebees and mason bees coming around. I have to do a lot less maintenance, and when I do it's more varied and interesting. Everything from fruit trees to berries, flowers to vegetables, herbs to herbal teas like chamomile. Strongly recommend looking at what will grow in your…

We have HOAs, if you grow fruits etc you're dead. Anything visible must be conformed to HOA rules.

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#189

Post by alistairSH »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #76
Pfhreak wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, interesting. I have a kid and I'm grateful we gave up our lawn. She plants in the spring, harvests, cooks, and preserves with us. She's excited to make pickles, jam, squash, pumpkins, corn, etc from things she's grown and tended to. She even got to pick out some of the flowers and make her own little square. Watching her step out to grab some blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries is one of the best feelings…

Where does she play ball games, set up a paddling pool, and wrestle? I'd agree if you have a house big enough to have a playroom, and have open space close by, it's probably easy enough. Our lawn is kinda a tiny, tiny, wildflower meadow, ie it's not cut much. The bees love the Clover.

Paddling pools and wrestling don't take a 1/5 acre lawn (not atypical suburban plot size). In my previous house, the back yard was heavily landscaped/hardscaped - patio, retaining wall, rocks and shrubs on the hill, etc. The front was lawn. Still plenty of room for my son to run around. And if he wanted more space, he went to the park around the corner.

There's also a substantial difference between a "natural" lawn, where clover and other plants are allowed vs the stereotypical "perfect" lawn (in the US) with a single grass species (and heavy application of herbicides and fertilizers).

Re: Renowned Entomologist Says ‘Get Rid of Your Lawn’

#190

Post by foxhop »

spodek wrote: post #167

Rob Greenfield's videos about living for a year in Orlando eating only food he grew himself or foraged from the wild are amazing stories of abundance https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHrhas5pE0W4rtw6yAsxi... . He found a few people to let him grow plants in their yards and ended up with abundance, diversity, and joy.

I want to take on this journey at some point, I live in a very different climate to him so I decided not to watch his series because it really won't be beneficial to me and my progress (unless I move to Florida).

I live in Connecticut, and I think at least for my first attempt, I will try a week, and then a month of eating and foraging only from my land and neighborhood.

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